Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued letters to more than 156 data center developments across the state, directing them to provide information about their water usage with the state government.
The request is part of an investigation that Paxton, who is the Republican nominee in the state’s Senate race, launched last month into hundreds of data centers under development.
Paxton said those projects haven’t responded to a water use survey from the Texas Water Development Board.
“Data center developers must follow the law and respect the Texans and communities affected by their operations,” Paxton said in a statement Thursday. “I am actively investigating data centers across Texas to make sure that Texans and our natural resources are protected.”
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Backlash over data center developments, based on concerns about water use, pollution, energy prices and AI safety, has grown over the last several months — sending politicians on both sides of the aisle scrambling to address those issues.
Data center politics have also played a prominent role in Paxton’s senate race. Paxton’s opponent, James Talarico, has highlighted the Republican’s record of supporting tax breaks for the data center industry and taking donations from companies developing AI infrastructure.
In an ad released Monday, Talarico walks in front of what appears to be a construction site for a data center and says Paxton is “selling off Texas.”
In September, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott halted all permits for data centers until the state’s Electric Reliability Council completed an audit to ensure they don’t compromise the power grid or “put Texans’ natural resources at risk.”
Abbott and Paxton’s efforts to crack down on data center developers is limited by state laws that limit the fines those companies can be charged if they don’t respond to water use surveys to just $500, The Texas Tribune reported Wednesday. Under state law, those companies, however, could be barred from state funding and environmental permits.
Data center operators have defended the low response rate to surveys, with some saying they didn’t receive the survey at all.
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